SCCA Solo D Street discussion

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by foshjowler

Thinking I'm going to start accumulating STR trim goodies throughout the year to jump up next year, or whatever street touring they're going to. Did a little thinking over the off season and I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather make the BRZ the track car in a couple of years, and sell the Miata. Then get an car for daily driving duties. STR bolt ons are probably all I'd be doing to the BRZ anyways for track duty, so might as well take the plunge.

Well that didn't take long. I have a friend who moved from an STR BRZ to a CS Miata, and I'm buying his JRI coilovers, front bar, end links, spacers, and studs for a too good to pass up deal. Only thing left is wheels and tires for a basic STR setup. Thinking I'll put everything on in the next month or so and do locals on last year's DS wheels/tires. I have until June to get wheels and tires for the Charlotte and Bristol tour events. Maybe in that time someone will be selling something locally. Otherwise I'm looking at Apex Arc 8 or whatever 949 comes out with, RPF1s are an option, but I want something different.

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by Desertnate

Thanks for the inputs. Is there no middle-ground tire option? This package will be autocross only, I don't see any opportunities this year to get in any track days.

Cold and wet are a consideration. We had 2x rain events last year (a third one was cancelled/rescheduled due to lightening) and at least 2x events that were run in 30~40F weather. This year's season has been condensed to try and avoid the cold, but with our unpredictable weather, you still can't rule anything out.

The Nexen's and Kumho's are close in price, but each seem to have their faults too. RS4's are close in price too, but seem better suited for endurance track duty. I ran a set of RS4's for a couple events with my BMW (they came with the used wheels I bought) and they wore like iron. I was a touch faster than the PS4S I'd run previously, but I didn't get enough time with them to tell whether I was really gaining much with them.

I'm not to the point where I'm hunting any trophies, so I'm not trying to find the absolute competitive edge.

Remember that while the Falkens "last longer" they're worse all the time and go noticeably off pace much sooner than the yoks or bridgestones so the cost difference is meaningless if you care about results.

[cmiovino]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Remember that while the Falkens "last longer" they're worse all the time and go noticeably off pace much sooner than the yoks or bridgestones so the cost difference is meaningless if you care about results.

Mine eclipsed 214 runs this weekend. I've only ever taken the original RE-71R out to about 205 runs. They still have enough tread that I'll probably run them at least another ~15 runs at our next test and tune for practice before tossing the Yoks on.

I did have a graceful spin on the heavily worn 660's. They're literally 2-3 seconds off pace on a 30 second course now. I've had a lot of 200TW tires over the years and would never buy the 660's again with the 71RS available and the Yok as another option.

[Locust]

Originally Posted by foshjowler

Thinking I'm going to start accumulating STR trim goodies throughout the year to jump up next year, or whatever street touring they're going to. Did a little thinking over the off season and I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather make the BRZ the track car in a couple of years, and sell the Miata. Then get an car for daily driving duties. STR bolt ons are probably all I'd be doing to the BRZ anyways for track duty, so might as well take the plunge.

Don't forget to write a letter asking for reasonable classing for the 22+ BRZ/GR86 if so. One day there will be enough people that it will deserve a place to play. I'm sad to say that I think STX is slowly dying as attendance is dropping a little and a lot of people I know from the class are ditching their gen1 twins.

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by Locust

Don't forget to write a letter asking for reasonable classing for the 22+ BRZ/GR86 if so. One day there will be enough people that it will deserve a place to play. I'm sad to say that I think STX is slowly dying as attendance is dropping a little and a lot of people I know from the class are ditching their gen1 twins.

Oh I already did. Probably did too extreme with asking for the Gen 2 twins, NC, and S2k to be moved to STX, but why not ask.

[DocWalt]

The right answer is move the ND out of STR, IMO

[Kelse92]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

The right answer is move the ND out of STR, IMO

Agree that spec ND class or ND in STU makes more sense.

[DocWalt]

I'd rather do Spec ND, but I get the aversion to adding classes.

In any case, the idea of new twin, S2k, and NC competing together is pretty enticing.

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

The right answer is move the ND out of STR, IMO

I share this opinion. That will be my message to them next month. STMiata just makes sense.

[Locust]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

Agree that spec ND class or ND in STU makes more sense.

They need to do a reshuffling of the classing. It should be a pyramid where you have the bottom, largest layer as street, the next is street touring, and then it reduces more from there as you go up. Having as many or more mod classes than street touring classes when you have infinitely more ways to make your vehicle competitive there has always been puzzling to me.

[dave99rt]

Originally Posted by foshjowler

Tire sizing question, does a 245/45-17 RE71RS fit without rubbing?

yes, with OEM offset 17x7.5 RPF1, 7mm spacers, and OEM crash bolts.

[cmiovino]

One thing with street touring classes I've seen more locally is that people just don't do street touring as much as street/stock classes. We have huge attendance numbers for DS for example, sometimes 15+ drivers at just a local event, but then only one driver in STX... and it's usually not even a semi-competitive car. This past event, it was someone who normally does drifting and came because he was bored. We're lucky to see one STX semi-prepped twin all year.

Cost-wise, for even street classes, you're looking at $1k in wheels, upgraded shocks, some running MCS and whatnot for $4k, lightweight exhausts for $1k, Karcepts bars for $1k or more, etc. It all adds up for about $5k+ for just street classes. I totally get you can just slap on some wheels/tires and go do street classes, but that's not going to be competitive. And don't even get me started on people running 3+ sets of tires a year or having dedicated rain tires.

A lot of people locally here don't want to go down the street touring rabbit hole and dump even more into a build.

A actually hate the whole classing system period. In street classes, you basically have to be financing and buying a new car every 2-3 years just to stay competitive. CTR is the top dog in DS, everyone's financing the shit out of $50k Civics. 2nd gen BRZ's are out and everyone's financing those and you have 7+ of those sitting in grid. With street classes, the ticket is having the next best thing. At least with street touring, it gives older cars a more even playing field and keeps them relevant longer.

[DocWalt]

My STR build cost ~$6k all in first year. Coilovers, header, wheels, front swaybar, tires. I daily my car and don't see a point not to. It's still a car at the end of the day and drives fine.



Street class is kinda pointless when you look at costs, especially the depreciation if you try to chase having the top car in street class.

[RT-BRZ]

In our region we run all index classes and pull everyone together for competition. That way you get to use your PAX time to compete with higher/lower ST cars. Obviously it's no more perfect than the existing class system but it does allow people to compete against each other. We are also lucky to have several nationally competitive ST drivers in our region so that also helps.